The two most popular Starlink kits are finally available for under $300, and that’s a rare opportunity for anyone considering satellite internet service.
The Standard Kit is appearing for $269 and the ultra-portable Mini for $299 at major big-box retailers, down from their standard list prices of $349 and $499. These do not come with Amazon’s sales event — and that is exactly why they may go quickly: so do copycat discounts after competing promotions expire.
Why These Prices Matter for Satellite Internet Buyers
Hardware is the largest one-time cost for satellite broadband. Cutting the cost of the Standard Kit by approximately 23% and of the Mini by 40% significantly lowers the barrier to entry for households with no reliable cable or fiber — as well as for traveling evangelists who need connectivity beyond cell coverage areas. With the way that a standard rural DSL install tends to tack on fees and equipment rentals that can bring your costs north of $200 in a year, this is one of the least-hassle ways onto a low-Earth-orbit network.
And these kit discounts are on top of any monthly service fees, which fluctuate depending on plan and location. Starlink has also started doing targeted promotions — such as time-limited Residential Lite pricing or even occasional hardware subsidies in specific ZIP codes — so it’s worth plugging your address into the company’s site to see if you can get something better than the shelf price.
What You Get With Every Starlink Standard and Mini Kit
Starlink Standard Kit: Get a home base workhorse with this kit. You receive a rectangular dish, Wi‑Fi router, base, and cabling for a permanent installation. Anticipate average download speeds between about 50–200 Mbps with latencies in the 25–60 ms range, according to service descriptions and independent testing norms for low‑Earth‑orbit systems. Power draw is typical, usually about 50–75 W or so depending on conditions. Whether you’re transitioning from aging DSL or just looking for a backup in case your cable goes out, this is the one to beat.
Starlink Mini: Suited for travel and small spaces, the Mini combines a wireless router and compact dish in one piece of equipment so users can set it up easily in the field. SpaceX has said the Mini is designed to reach up to around 100 Mbps under ideal sky conditions, and its more modest power profile (sometimes as little as 20–40 W) makes it a good fit for RV batteries, boats with small solar installations, and off‑grid cabins. It’s theoretically portable, but the service terms are crucial — Mobile and Roam plans can be used on the go where the standard residential plan cannot.
The two kits ride on the same core network, which is a proliferating constellation of low‑orbit satellites that SpaceX continues adding to with second-generation hardware. The draw over geostationary systems is latency: the much shorter trip to orbit leads to snappier web surfing, smoother video calls, and much less pain for cloud apps.
Choosing Between Starlink Standard and Mini for Your Needs
Choose Standard if you need a solid, permanent connection at one address. You’ll have the most stable throughput, better performance in bad weather as a result of the larger antenna, and easy mounting options. It’s the right choice for homes with heavy streamers, people who need to back up a large photo library, or households with multiple gamers.
Choose the Mini if you value portability and fast setup. It’s the gear that you throw in the truck or duffel for fieldwork, overlanding, race weekends, or a seasonal cabin where permanent infrastructure wouldn’t make sense. Combine it with a Mobile or Roam plan to prevent service violations and note any prioritized data caps that apply to those tiers.
Many users run both: Standard in the main household, Mini as a travel partner or backup when grid power fails.
Key Factors to Consider Before Buying a Starlink Kit
Look at your sky: Starlink requires a clean line of sight to the heavens, and even brief obstructions (trees, chimneys, ridges) can cause drops. The app’s augmented reality feature also lets you scout your site before drilling a hole or cutting another inch.
Prepare for power: The Standard Kit’s increased draw means little on the grid, but it does matter if you’re using a generator or battery backup. The Mini’s lower 20–40 watts can be better suited for small, 12‑volt systems; many off‑grid customers have reported great results even when combining the Mini with relatively small solar panels and inverters.
Watch the tier: Residential service is for one location. Mobile and Roam can be used in motion, but they may also hold different network priority settings, which is especially true in the case of congested cells. Read the plan details — Starlink updates terms as it grows capacity.
Get the bigger picture: Network performance can fluctuate depending on where you are because capacity gets used. Independent measurements by companies like Ookla have indicated that low‑Earth‑orbit systems are steadily improving now that more satellites and ground stations are coming online, though each system may still face congestion at high-traffic hours. The silver lining is that SpaceX keeps launching new satellites with denser streams of bandwidth, and this tends to (eventually) lift speeds.
Bottom Line on Starlink’s Limited-Time Hardware Pricing
Under‑$300 Starlink kits don’t happen often, and when they do, sales are seldom coordinated between multiple retailers for very long. If you’ve been holding out on hooking up a coach or outfitting a remote cabin, shoring up your home internet resilience, or finally partaking of true reliable network freedom at $100 per year anywhere in the country (more on this to come later in today’s article), now is an unusually good time to jump into carriers and devices. Just keep in mind that hardware deals come and go, service is à la carte, and the availability pendulum can swing dramatically once the wider retail sales loop is broken.
